Means for mounting dial instruments



June 24, 1947. s, KAHN MEANS FOR MOUNTING A DIAL INSTRUMENT 10k 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 24, 1947.

s.Y KAHN MEANS FOR MOUNTlNG A DIAL INSTRUMENT Filed Nov. 10, 1944 2 Sheets-Sht 2 4 x um A 9W.. Y me Patented June 24, 1947 MEANS Foa MOUNTING DIAL INSTRUMENTS 2 Samuel Kahn, Bridgeport, Conn., assigner to Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Incorporated, NewV York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 10, 1944, Serial No. 562,859

7 Claims.

This invention pertains to dial instruments, for example, pressure gauges, dial thermometers, etc., and relates more especially to improved' means for mounting such a device in an opening in an instrument board. Instruments of the type referred to usually comprise a casing which houses the operative instrumentalities, including a movable index element, the casing having a trans parent protective front panel of glass through which the index means is visible. Such instruments are usually carefully calibrated by the maker, and the delicate operative parts are protected from injury by the rigid case with its glass. front panel. Commonly, the case has a radial attaching flange near its rear wall, although cases of more modern type (such, for

example, as disclosed in the patent to Graesser,

et al. 2,211,423, dated January 217., i942) have their walls shaped to provide exterior recesses or'nfiches for the reception of the attaching screws or bolts. No particular difficulty. is experienced mounting such instruments on the front of a supporting board, since the attaching bolts may readily be inserted into the holes provided for them in the radial flange (or at the bottoms of the recesses or niches in cases of the more modern type.)` and no disassembly ofthe instrument Darts is necessary in thus mounting the instrun ment. However, when the instrument is to be mounted in an opening in a supporting board, with its glass panel substantially iiush with the front surface of the board, it has usually been necessary first to remove the glass panel and its retaining or bezel ring in order to permit insertion of theattaching bolts. Such removal of. the glass panel exposes the index, dial and other parts of the instrument to possible injury and frequently results ink a disturbance of the careful calibration originally made by the manufacturer.

Thev principal object of the present invention is to provide improved means for mounting such instrument in an opening in a supporting board, with thefront face of the instrument substantially flush with the forward surface of the board, but. without` necessitating the preliminary removal of the bezel ring and glass panel from the instrument.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention, will be pointed out in the following morev detailed description, and byk reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig, lisa diagrammatic iront, elevation showing the, instrument assembledwith the finish ring and" mounted upon an instrumentboard, the lat,- ter being shown only in part;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but omitting the instrument case;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view partly in section on the same plane as Fig. 2, illustrating a slight modification;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic front elevation, generally similar to Fig. l, but showing a modified construction;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, with parts in Vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, showing the instrument and finish ring mounted on the instrument board; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary section substantially on the line l-l of Fig. 5. Referring to the drawings, the numeralr i: designates the case of a dial instrument, for example a pressure gauge, the case here illustrated (by way of example but without limitation) being of thekind more fully described in the above-named patent to Graesser et al., being moulded from plastic material to provide the chamber 2. for the reception of the movement mechanism, the chamber being closed at the front by the transparent panel 3. The outer surface oi the case is' provided with recesses or niches 4, each having a bottom wall provided with a forward surface 5, the bottom Wall of each niche or recess having a` bore for the reception of an attaching screw or bolt, as hereafter described.

As here illustrated the instrument is mounted on an instrument. board having an opening A (Fig. 3) of a diameter somewhat larger than that of the forward portion of the' instrument case. To form an ornamental border for this opening at the front side of the instrument board and to form an anchorage for the instrument case as hereafter described, there is provided a finish ring 'l of such size and width that its outer edge 8 overlaps the edge', of the opening A in the invn strument board,'while its inner edge 9 approximately registers with theedge of theitransparen-t panel 3 of the instrument.

In accordance with the present invention, studs IIJ, here shownas threein number, spaced symmetrically about the axis of the iinish ring l, and each having. ahead portion il welded or otherwise permanently united to the rear or inner surface of the` nish ring, arearranged. to extend rearwardly through the opening. in` the instrument` boardA 6, the axes of these. several studs being parallel` to the axis of the finish ring. Each, ofV these studs i's screw threadedl at its rear portion as shown at l2. -A tubular, rigid spacer element I3 is associated with each of'these studs, each spacer element being internally screw threaded at its forward portion for engagement with the screw threads on the corresponding stud. Each of these spacers I3 is of such external diameter, at least at its forward end, as to bear against the margin of the instrument board 6 surrounding the opening A. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the nish ring 1 may thus be assembled with the instrument board and held in fixed relation thereto by passing its studs II) rearwardly through the opening in the instrument board and then assembling the spacer elements I3 with the studs and screwing the spacer elements onto the studs until the forward ends of the spacer elements engage the rear surface of the instrument board, thus firmly clamping the nish ring against the forward surface,l of the instrument board.

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, each of the spacer elements I3 has internal screw threads I4 at its rear end portion. In assembling the instrument case with the instrument board, and assuming that the finish ring has already been clamped in place, as shown in Fig. 3, the instrument case is advanced forwardly from the rear so that the spacer elements I3 enter corresponding recesses 4 in the outer surface of the gauge case. Screws I5 are then introduced through the bores in the bottom walls of the recesses, the screws I5 engaging the internal screw threads I4 of the spacer elements, and being tightened until the rear ends of the spacer elements bear firmly against the bottom surfaces 5 of the several niches or recesses. The spacer elements are of such length that when the parts are thus assembled, the front face of the instrument bears the desired relation to the plane of the front surface of the instrument board, for example, the front of the instrument case may be ush with the front surface of the instrument board or support 6. The instrument is thus firmly clamped in position in proper coaxial relation to the finish ring 'I. The operation of mounting the instrument on the panel board as thus described does not necessitate any disassembly of the instrument itself, nor the removal of its forward glass panel 3 and thus may be accomplished without in any way disturbing the calibration of the instrument. Conversely if at any time it be desired to remove the instrument from the panel board, for inspection, adjustment or the like, this is done very simply merely by removing the screws I5, leaving the finish ring I in place.

In a slight modification of the above arrangement, as shown in Fig. 4, the finish ring 'I is provided with studs I 6 (generally similar to the studs ID) having heads I'I which are welded or otherwise permanently united to the rear or inner surface of the ring "I, but in this instance each of these studs I6 is suiiiciently long to extend completely through its spacer element I8 and through the bore in the bottom wall of the recess of the gauge case and to a point to the rear of the rear wall of the case. In this instance the spacer element I8 is not provided with screw threads at its forward portion, the stud I5 passing freely through this forward portion, but the spacer element is screw threaded at its rear part for engagement with screw threads I9 on the rear end of the stud I5. The spacer is screwed onto the stud until its forward end engages the rear surface of the bore 5, thus holding the finish ring 'I in place. The instrument case is then advanced forwardly from the rear so thatv the rear ends of the studs I6 pass through the bores in the bottom walls of the recesses and a nut 20 is then screwed onto the rear end of each stud I6 thus firmly clamping the instrument in place.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 a further modification is illustrated, wherein the finish ring 'l is substantially as above described, but in this instance is furnished with posts or studs 24 having heads 25 welded to the rear side of the finish ring, the posts or studs 24 themselves constituting the spacer elements and being made of suitable length for engagement with the bottom surfaces 5 of the recesses or niches in the gauge case. In this instance the studs or posts 24 are internally screw threaded at their rear ends only, and each receives a screw 26 which passes through the bottom wall of the corresponding recess 4 in the gauge case so as to secure the instrument to the studs or posts 24.

In this instance, in order to secure the nish ring 'I to the instrument board 6, the finish ring is provided with a plurality of short studs 2l each having a head 22 which is welded or otherwise permanently united to the rear or inner surface of the finish ring, these studs 2l being screw threaded at their rear portions and passing through apertures formed in the instrument board 6, the studs receiving nuts 23 by means of which the finish ring is firmly clamped directly to the instrument board. The axes of the studs 2I are at a radial distance from the center of the finish ring greater than the radius of the opening in the instrument board, so that they may pass through independent bores formed in the instrument board bordering the opening which receives the instrument case.

In this latter arrangement the finish ring is secured to the instrument board by the studs 2| and may remain in place even though the instrument be removed, but in this instance the spacer elements constituted by the studs 24 are fixed to the finish ring and in mounting the instrument it is unnecessary to manipulate any parts other than the screws 26.

While certain desirable embodiments of the invention have been illustrated by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to these precise embodiments, but is to be regarded as broadly inclusive of any and all equivalent arrangements.

I claim:

l. The combination with a dial instrument having a case provided with a transparent front panel and having a part provided with a forwardly directed abutment surface and with an aperture whose axis is perpendicular to the plane of the transparent panel, attaching means designed to secure the instrument case in an openingI in a support with the transparent panel substantially ush with the forward surface of the support, said attaching means comprising a ring of a diameter greater than that of the opening in the support and designed to engage the forward surface of the support bordering the opening, an elongate stud fixed at its forward end to the ring, tubular spacers each internally screw threaded at both ends, each spacer being of an external diameter such that when engaged with its stud its forward end bears against the rear surface of the support thereby to clamp the ring against the front surface of the support, each spacer having a rear surface designed to engage a surface of the instrument case thereby to locate the forward face of the case in desired relation to the plane of the front surface of the support, and

screws designed to pass through openings in corresp-onding parts of the case and to engage the internal threads at the rear ends of the spacers, thereby detachably to secure the case to the ring.

2. In combination with a finish ring designed to border an instrument-receiving opening in a support, a plurality of elongate studs each permanently united at its forward end to the ring and projecting rearwardly from the latter, the studs being so arranged as to pass through the marginal portion of the opening inthe support, said studs having screw-threaded portions, rigid tubular spacer members, each internally screw threaded for engagement with one of the studs, each spacer being of an external diameter such that when engaged with its stud its forward end bears against the rear surface of the support thereby to clamp the ring against the front surface of the support, each spacer element having a rear end surface designed to contact a surface of an instrument oase, and each spacer being of such length as to locate the case with the front face of the latter in desired relation to the plane of the front surface of the support, and means for detachably securing the instrument case to said studs.

3. In combinatiorfwith a, finish ring designed to border an instrument-receiving opening in a sul@- port, a plurality of elongate studs each permanently united at its forward end to the ring and projecting rearwardly from the latter, the studs being so arranged as to pass through the marginal portion of the opening in the support, said studs having screw-threaded portions, tubular spacers each internally screw threaded for engagement with one of the studs, the forward end portion of each spacer being of an external diameter such that when engaged with its respective stud said forward end bears against the rear surface of the support thereby to clamp the ring against the front surface of the support, each spacer having a surface designed to contact a surface of the instrument case and being of such length that when so engaged with the instrument case the front face of the latter is disposed substantially in the plane of the front surface of the support, the studs being of suflicient length to extend completely through the respective spacers and through a part of the instrument case, and nuts engageable with the rear ends of the studs for detachably securing the case to the studs.

4. In combination with an instrument case, a nish ring designed to border an instrumentreceiving opening in a support, elongate studs permanently attached at their forward ends to the ring and projecting rearwardly from the ring and of such length as to extend to the rear of the support, means engageable with said studs to clamp the ring against the forward surface of the support, and a second set of studs each also secured at its forward end to the ring and each having an abutment surface for engagement with an element of the instrument case, and means for detachably uniting the instrument to said latter studs.

5. In combination with an instrument case, a finish ring designed to border an instrumentreceiving opening in a support, studs permanently attached at their forward ends to the ring and extending rearwardly therefrom, said studs being at a radial distance from the axis of the ring greater than the radius of the opening in the support and being designed to pass through bores in that part of the support which borders the opening, each stud being screw threaded for engagement with retaining means by which the ring may be clamped against the front surface of the support, a second set of studs each permanently secured at its forward end to the ring and extending rearwardly from the latter, said latter studs being at such radial distances from the axis of the ring that they may pass through the opening in the latter, said latter studs having screw threads at their rear end portions for the reception of retaining means operative detachably to secure the instrument case to said latter studs.

6. In combination with an instrument case, a finish ring designed to border an instrumentreceiving opening in a support, studs permanentl 1y attached at their forward ends to the ring and extending rearwardly therefrom, said studs being at a radial distance Afrom the axis of the ring greater than the radius of the opening in the support and being designed to pass through bores in that part of the support which borders the opening, each stud being screw threaded for engagement with retaining means by which the ring may be clamped against the front surface of the support, a second set of studs each permanently secured at its forward end to the ring and extending rearwardly from the latter, said latter studs being at such radial distances from the axis of the ring that they may pass through the opening in the latter, said latter studs having abutment surfaces at their rear ends for contact with surfaces of the instrument case and being of such length as to locate the instrument case with its front, face substantially ilush with the forward surface of the support,

and means for detachably securing the instrument case to said latter studs.

'7. In combination with a angeless instrument case including a transparent front panel and retaining means for the panel, the case having 40 forwardly facing abutment surfaces adjacent to its rear face, a finish ring designed to border an instrument-receiving opening in a support, means for securing the ring to the support in coaxial relation with the opening in the latter, said securing means including a plurality of elongate curately to locate the transparent front panel of the case substantially flush with the front surface of the support, and means operative removably to secure the case to said spacer elements.

SAMUEL KAHN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,338,766 Bristol May 4, 1920 1,550,015 Decker Aug. 18, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 106,058 Australia Dec. 15, 1938 

